Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Winter 2024 Season

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Like the proverbial swallows of Capistrano returning year after year to the San Juan Capistrano Mission, the exciting Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has come back to roost triumphantly in its winter home, New York City Center, a season dedicated to the memory of the recently deceased Judith Jamison, Artistic Director Emerita and dancing star.

The program began aptly enough with Ailey’s “Memoria,” choreographed as his reaction to the death of his great friend Joyce Trisler, one of the second generation of modern dance pioneers.  She danced in early incarnations of the Ailey troupe, had a company of her own and died at the age of 45.

“Memoria” was danced to a score by Keith Jarrett which ranged from wispy to sexy and focused on a single figure danced by Constance Stamatiou, in flowing pale gray (just one color in the multihued costumes by A. Christina Giannini), always accompanied by two male guardian angels (Michael Jackson, Jr. and Christopher R. Wilson). Four couples alternately encircled the leading figure and performed soft, windswept lifts.

The first section was danced by Company members who were joined by what seemed like dozens of Ailey School students who filled the City Center stage in ever-changing formations: weaving lines, circles and running about, their energies always focused on Stamatiou, the mood changing almost imperceptively from peaceful worship to celebration which led directly into the very colorful finale in which Ailey seems to have resolved his grief.

“Memoria” is one of Ailey’s most balletic works, elegant and moving, danced with devotional zeal.

Lar Lubovitch’s “Many Angels,” a premiere, put his ability to match wits with great classical scores to the test.  He tamed Brahms, catching all its swells of emotion with flowing, curved steps, and he used Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto’s slow movement to produce a moving duet for two men which became an emotional touchstone during the height of the AIDS epidemic.  But, could he conquer the oft-heard Gustav Mahler “Adagietto” from his Fifth Symphony?

In front of a huge image of a lovely cloudy sky, five dancers (Jacquelin Harris, Yannick Lebrun, Ashley Kaylynn Green, Isaiah Day and Jesse Obremski), attired in gauzy pale costumes by Harriet Jung and Reid Bartelme and moodily lit by Clifton Taylor, began in a pretty pile on the floor, soon rising into one sculptural grouping after another, hitting all the climaxes of this over-used score.  The mood is somber with hints of spirituality—eyes focused on high, prayerful upward gestures—but the emotions expressed in the choreography and by the excellent cast were drowned by the sturm und drang of the music.

This powerful music has led many choreographers—and film directors—astray.

The second premiere was a battle of the sexes duet, “Me, Myself and You,” choreographed by Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish to a Duke Ellington song, “In a Sentimental Mood” sung lustrously by Brandie Sutton.

Caroline T. Dartey, in a long, silvery robe (costumes by Danté Baylor) rose from the floor and wandered beautifully towards a standing screen on the other side of the stage.  Once unfolded, the screen was revealed to be a three-part mirror which seemed to fascinate Dartey as she almost made love to her own image.

Soon she was joined by a bare-chested James Gilmer who immediately tore off her shiny robe to reveal a slip-like dress.  They grappled sensually, Roxas-Dobrish’s choreography just avoiding mutual cruelty.  After a final embrace, Gilmer wandered off past the mirrors, leaving her bereft, looking in the direction of his exit.

Yi-Chung Chen’s lighting underlined the moodiness.

The program ended with an exciting performance of Ailey’s “Revelations,” one of the most famous ballets in the world.

Highlights were a sublimely moving Miranda Quinn and Michael Jackson, Jr. in the “Fix Me, Jesus” section; Yannick Lebrun in a magnificently controlled “I Want to Be Ready”; and Christopher Taylor, James Gilmer and Xavier Mack in a breathtakingly energetic “Sinner Man.”

Of course, the full company finale, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham,” Ailey’s delightful portrait of old-fashioned Southern Black womanhood, had to be encored to the delight of the enthusiastic sold-out audience.

The Ailey troupe delivered yet again.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (through January 5, 2025)

New York City Center, 131 West 55^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-581-1212 or visit http://www.NYCityCenter.org or http://www.Ailey.org

Running time: one hour and 50 minutes including one intermission